Motion-picture screen.



M. BLUMENBERG.

MOTION PICTURE SCREEN. APPLlCATlON FILED'JULYIO.1917.

1,26 9, 552. Patented June 11, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

afjf M-B lam nbeng ATTORNEY M. BLUMENB ERG. MOTION PICTURE SCREEN.

APPLICATION FILED IULY I0. 1917.

Patented J um 11. 1918,

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INVENTOR WITNESSES M; .B

ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MOXLEY BLUMENBERG, OF PORTLAND, MAINE, BY JUDICIAL CHANGE OF NAME TO MOXLEY HILL.

MOTION-PICTURE SCREEN Application filed July 10, 1917.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MOXLEY BLUMEN- BERG, a citizen of the United States, residing at Portland, in the county of Cumberland and State of Maine, have invented new and useful Improvements in Motion- Picture Screens, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to moving picture screens of that class which are used in connection with shooting galleries where shots are fired at the screen on which a picture is projected producing a puncture through which a light may be seen for the purpose of indicating the exact spot hit by the shot.

The invention has for its object to produce an endless apron supported movably to the rear of the screen on which the picture is projected, in connection with mechanism for moving the said endless apron a short distance after the discharge of each shot, thereby obstructing and obscuring the puncture that has been made in the front screen on which the picture is projected.

A further object of the invention is to so construct, arrange and support the endless apron that itmay be readily and indefinitely patched, thereby very materially increasing the life thereof.

With these and other ends in View which will readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the improved construction and novel arrangement and combination of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings has been illustrated a simple and preferred form of the invention, it being, however, understood that no limitation is necessarily made to the precise structural details therein exhibited, but that changes, alterations and modifications within the scope of the claims may be resorted to when desired.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a front view showing the projection screen partly broken away.

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken on the line 44 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 3.

Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 66 in Fig. 3.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 11, 1918. Serial No. 179,747.

Corresponding parts in the several fig ures of the drawings are denoted by like characters of reference.

In the construction of my improved apparatus there is embodied a rectangular frame comprising top and bottom members 15 and 16 and end members 17 and 17. Said frame structure also includes rearwardly extending brackets 18 connected at their points of junction with the top and bottom members 15 and 16 by a cross bar 19 and at their rearward ends by another cross bar 20. The brackets 18 are disposed substantially at right angles to the top and bottom members, and relatively near the end member 17 The top and bottom members 15 and 16 support a plurality of rollers one of which, 21, is located adjacent to the'end member 17 which is relatively near the brackets 18. A secondroller 22 is located adjacent to the end member 17. .A third roller 23 is located closely adjacent to the roller 22 and a fourth roller '24 is located intermediate the end member 17. and the brackets 18. i The several rollers of substantially equal length and diameter, and the axes of the several rollers are disposed in substantially the same plane. A fifth roller 25 is provided with pintles 26 that extend through slots 27 in the brackets 18, said .pintles being'journaled in bearing members 28 which are connected with springs 29 where by said bearing members are moved :outwardly or rearwardly with respect to the frame members 15 and 16, such movement being permitted by the slots 27 which are slidably engaged by the pintles 26. An endless apron 30 which is preferably made of ordinary paper of coarse texture and dark color is guided over the end rollers 21 and 22 between which the front lead of said apron extends practically the full length of the frame 15, 16, 17, 17. The rear lead of the apron is guided between the rollers 22 and 23 in front of the rollers 23 and 24 adjacent to the rear face of the front lead, and then over the spring pressed roller 25 and back to the roller 21. Portions of the front and rear leads lying between the rollers 23 and 24 are thus juxtaposed and practically in contact with each other. The screen 31 on which the picture is to be projected is suitably supported in front of that portion of the endless apron which lies between the top and bottom frame members 15 and 16 and the rollers 23. and 24, said rollers being spaced apart a distance not less than the width of the screen while the height of the screen should not exceed the width of the endless apron.

The roller 21 is mounted on a shaft 32 carrying a ratchet wheel 33 and a lever 3a. A spring actuated pawl or dog 35 constantly engages the ratchet wheel 33. Secured on the end member 17 of the frame structure is the plate 36 having upwardly extending arms 37 that serve as limiting stops to limit the throw or movement of the lever 34. The latter is actuated in the direction of one of the stop members and held normally in engagement therewith by means of a spring 38 one end of which is connected with an arm or bracket 39. The lever 33 carries a spring actuated pawl 40 engaging the ratchet wheel. It will be seen that by actuating the lever 34 which may be conveniently done by means of a flexible element 4.1 leading to the booth of the operator, the pawl 40 will engage the ratchet wheel 33 and produce a partial rotation of the roller 21, the pawl 35 serving as a detent to prevent reverse rotation of the roller. When tension on the flexible element or cord 41 is relaxed, the spring '38 will automatically restore the lever 34 to its initial position. It will be observed that each operation of the roller 21 produces a feed motion of the endless apron, the latter being held taut by the action of the spring pressed roller 25. It will be readily understood that when the projection screen is punctured by a shot, the front and rear leads of the endless apron directly in rear of said screen will li ewise be punctured, the punctures being visible by a light such as an ordinary incandescent lamp supported to the rearward of the device, but

Copies of this patent may be obtained for to enable the effect of the shot to be observed, the operator, by actuating the lever 34:, feeds the endless apron slowly in one direction, causing the punctured portion of each lead to be overlapped by an unpunctured portion of the other lead, and completely obscuring the puncture in the screen. The endless apron may be patched by placing over the shot holes small patches of paper, and the said apron may thus be made to last a very long time before it will be found necessary to discard the same for a new one. A new apron, however, may be readily installed at any time.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. A frame structure, rollers supported therein, one of said rollers being spring pressed to constitute a tension roller, an endless apron guided over the rollers some of which are so dis-posed as to maintain p.or tions of the front and rear leads of the apron in juxtaposed relation, a moving picture screen supported adjacent to the juxtaposed portions of the front and rear leads of the apron, and means for imparting feed motion to the apron. 1

2. The combination with a moving picture screen, of an endless apron, supporting means for said apron including a frame structure having top and bottom members and rearwardly extending brackets, and rollers supported for rotation in said top and bottom members and brackets, one of said rollers being a tension roller, and means for imparting feed motion to one of the rollers,

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

MOXLEY BLUMENBERG.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. O. 

